Just got done with a 14 day trip with my son, and already thinking about next year. Will have to be a solo to be a long one......any good ideas that avoid super big water and portages much over 200 rods? I really love little rivers, so any way to do the Frost that doesn't involve coming back thru Zenith?

Absolutely. Start at Ham lake (cross bay entry)down thru Long Island and over to Frost lake. Frost river to Afton, Whipped to Mora. Here you have a choice of heading north to Crooked and Gillis, then toBat and out the Brandt lake entry, ending at Round lake about 1/2 mile from your put in. Or you could head west to Little Sag, portage to Virgin and follow that chain to the north end of Gillis and then finish the same route. I don’t believe there are any portages over 200 rods(not sure if any are even 160) on either option. Largest water on the 1st option is Gillis, fairly open water and you would need to cross the whole lake. 2nd option the Little Sag is larger but your rout would take you along the eastern shore and there are a lot of Islands to use to dodge the wind if needed. Back on Gillis you can stay close to the north shore to get to the portage to Bat. Either of these routes over 2 weeks would give you plenty of time for layover days and or short travel days.

You can bypass the Zenith to Lujenida portage by going up through Little Saganaga, and then down through Makwa, Malberg, and taking the Lady Chain back to the Sawbill area. Of course, that adds many more miles to the journey. I found the Fente to Hub portage to be much more difficult with its steep elevation change. The Zenith portage was just a long walk in the woods to me.

The border route would be perfect for a 2-3 week solo. You could paddle from Little Vermillion all the way to the Fowl lakes, or do Grand Portage and have someone pick you up at Lake Superior. If you like rivers, you get plenty of them on this route, especially if you do the Pigeon River and Grand Portage (Loon River, Basswood River, Pine River, etc) You can make this trip as long as you want, you could even start in Voyageurs National Park and paddle right through into the BWCA. I’m doing this route in a few weeks, but I only have 8 days to do it. You could really soak it all in with 2+ weeks to do it.

Tony

The border route would be true, but also some huge waters in places.

If you like small waters.....I like the earlier suggestion of linking the Frost to Louse rivers and lady chain. You could have a bunch of awesome day trips off of that route too and not have major portage or big water issues. You'd avoid the super long Lugenida portage and only have maybe one over 200?

A second option would be LIS North or Moose River north and check out all the smaller lakes between those and south of LLC. Tons of options of small water and streams up there too, but complete opposite end of the park.

cyclones30: "
A second option would be LIS North or Moose River north and check out all the smaller lakes between those and south of LLC. Tons of options of small water and streams up there too, but complete opposite end of the park. "

I like the idea of that...haven't explored that area much. Thanks!

dogwoodgirl: "

cyclones30: "
A second option would be LIS North or Moose River north and check out all the smaller lakes between those and south of LLC. Tons of options of small water and streams up there too, but complete opposite end of the park. "

I like the idea of that...haven't explored that area much. Thanks!"

I did this loop out of LIS North at the end of June. Between Little Loon and Gebeonequet, I think we saw three solo paddlers and a group of 4 paddlers in two tandems passed through Pocket Lake.

IIRC, one of the solo paddlers was taking two weeks to go from LIS North to Moose River North.

If you take your time you can visit other lakes that we didn't have time for, like Gun or Fat.

One of my favorite memories is the scenic portage from Finger Lake to Finger Creek and then paddling on Finger Creek to Pocket Lake. There was a section that was filled with the smell of the north woods.

If you start and end on LIS North, you would have two portages that are each about 300 rods.

dogwoodgirl: "

cyclones30: "
A second option would be LIS North or Moose River north and check out all the smaller lakes between those and south of LLC. Tons of options of small water and streams up there too, but complete opposite end of the park. "

I like the idea of that...haven't explored that area much. Thanks!"

I'm planning to do a solo in this area next spring...Wish I had more that the 5 days I have to explore more.

rdgbwca: "

dogwoodgirl: "

cyclones30: "
A second option would be LIS North or Moose River north and check out all the smaller lakes between those and south of LLC. Tons of options of small water and streams up there too, but complete opposite end of the park. "

If you start and end on LIS North, you would have two portages that are each about 300 rods."

Note - If you enter at LIS North and Exit on Moose River or vice versa you avoid these longer portages.

How far do you want to travel over those 2-3 weeks? From your trip report you seem to like moving along a bit.

Regarding the Frost River, you can also get there from the North. A "shorter" route would start at Round Lake off the Gunflint Trail (Tuscarora Lodge if you need a bunkhouse or need to rent anything). From Round you enter at the Brant Lake EP and proceed West to Peter Lake, South through Little Sag, then Southeast through Mora and Whipped Lakes to get to the Frost River. Follow the Frost East through Frost Lake and at Gorden Lake hang a left and proceed North through Long Island Lake up to Ham Lake and back over to Round.

If you wanted to add more to this trip, you could park at Tuscarora Lodge and have them give you a tow up to American Point on Saganaga and then proceed west to Ottertrack then down to Hanson and West to Cherry. Then you could explore some of the small Lakes to the West like Lunar, Lake of the Clouds, etc. From there you could go through Topaz and Amoeber before turning south and SAK. From there keep going south through Eddy and down to Ogish and eventually down to Little Sag. From there you can continue as described before down to Frost and back up to Ham. and then over to Round where your car would be waiting. It would cover a lot of great area with a little of everything and there wouldn't be a portage over 140rod.

Reconsider avoiding big lakes and long portages. A 2-3 week trip gives you time to do these safely and more comfortably than the tight time frame of a 5-10 day trip. You have time to hold back and wait for good weather on the big lakes and take your time on the big portages, braking them into comfortable sections with significant rest stops. As I get older the big border lakes are more attractive. There is a reason it was the "voyageur's highway". Big lakes connected with short portages, except for Long Portage and Grand Portage of course.

A good big loop could start at Poplar Lake head down through Winchell to Brule, west to Cherokee and the Frost River to Little Saganaga then SW into the Kawishiwi watershed, work your way back up to Newfound and follow the border all the way back to Rose then south to Hungry Jack and get a short shuttle back to your vehicle at Poplar. You could choose to shorten the trip at lots of different places if the way too many portages get old. You could choose to end your trip at Saganaga or Gunflint and get outfitters there to shuttle you back. The big loop would be an epic three week trip if you enjoy being out that long.

I'm thinking there could be a nice trip that involves leaving my vehicle at fall lake and getting my son to drop me at LIS, then work my way over......hitting the border lakes for Bottle, Crooked, etc.

dogwoodgirl: "I'm thinking there could be a nice trip that involves leaving my vehicle at fall lake and getting my son to drop me at LIS, then work my way over......hitting the border lakes for Bottle, Crooked, etc."

That would be a great route. That or Mudro for a takeout spot. You'd get to see all the falls along the border but miss some of Basswood and Fall unless you wanted to paddle those.

A great way to access the Frost is to start at either Cross Bay Lake EP or Missing Link EP. Then head down to Long Island Lake and then through Frost Lake into the Frost River. From there you can either head to down through Hub (longer portage) and into the Louse River. Or you can go to Little Sag and depending on weather decide how far west you want to go before heading back out via Brandt Lake into Round Lake. Makes a nice loop. How many days really depends on your travel plans...length of days, layover days, etc.